The Advancement Conference for the High-quality Development of the Ethiopian Luban Workshop kicked off in Tianjin, East of China, on April 25, on the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of the founding of the workshop, providing a platform for sharing the Engineering Practice Innovation Project (EPIP) Teaching Model.

Education authority and business executives of China, Ethiopia, and Ethiopian Luban Workshop teachers and students attend the online conference on April 25. [Photo provided to tianjin.chinadaily.com.cn]

The Ethiopian Luban Workshop was built in the country that headquarters the African Union. It is set to be a technical talent training center for the whole continent, designated by the Human Resources Development Committee of the African Union.

At present, the workshop helps promote the East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP), and has become an important faculty training base for 16 countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The online event, which included a plate unveiling ceremony, challenge launching ceremony and sharing sessions, offers a channel for the workshop's construction team, teachers and students, and business executives to have in-depth discussions.

The inauguration of the "EPIP Research and Promotion Center" and the "EPIP Authentication Pilot Center for East-African TVET Teachers" were also held at the conference. Teshale Berecha Yadessa, the state minister of Labor and Skills, Ethiopia, received the appointment letter for the latter.

At the meeting, Teshale Berecha Yadessa and Jing Hongyang, director general of Tianjin Education Commission, delivered enthusiastic speeches, voicing congratulating the achievements of the Ethiopian Luban Workshop over the past two years.

In their speeches, Solomon Tesfaye, minister for Infrastructure and Economic cooperation, Ethiopian Embassy, and Zhang Jingang, chairman of University Council, TUTE, both noted that the Ethiopian Luban Workshop has been highly praised by local circles for sharing the Chinese teaching model through the Ethiopian EPIP Teaching Research Center.

Accordingly, the two parties will deepen cooperation on enhancing the service level of the workshop, to develop it into a benchmark for African Luban Workshops. By cultivating high-quality technical personnel and vocational teachers, it is expected to support the Belt and Road Initiative and the African Union's Agenda 2063.

On site, teachers and students from Thailand, Portugal, and Ethiopia participated in the launch ceremony of the EPIP International Challenge and compared notes on the upgrade and reprint of the EPIP textbooks.

Jose Pedro Magalhaes Lucas, who is in charge of the Luban Workshop at the Polytechnic Institute of Setubal in Portugal, and Geng Jie, director of the Vocational Education Research Institute of the Tianjin Academy of Educational Sciences, shared their EPIP teaching and research results at the conference.

Attendees also included leaders and professional teachers from the International Exchange Office of the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission, the Tianjin Bohai Vocational and Technical College, Tianjin Mechanical and Electrical Vocational and Technical College, and TUTE.